The tragic deaths of the favourite Admire Rakti and seventh placegetter Araldo soon after the Melbourne Cup has focused attention on some of the risks involved in racing horses. The Japanese horse Admire…

The unicorn is an icon of our contemporary love affair with escapism.
Rob Boudon3 novembre 2014

This is not an article about unicorns or virgins, but about the power of imagination, both wonderful and terrible. As an academic and equine artist I work between creative imagination and scientific epistemology…

If you’re looking for a definitive answer on who will win the Melbourne Cup – the world’s most prestigious two-mile handicap – I’m afraid I’m going to leave you sorely disappointed. What I can offer is…

It’s the race that stops a nation … and is worth a cool A$6.2 million. So what goes into the raceday preparation for the equine stars of the show? Thoroughbred racehorses have unique anatomy and physiology…

Study the form guide all you like – on big race days, your money’s probably safer in your pocket.
AAP/Joe Castro30 octobre 2014

Australia’s iconic sporting event – the Melbourne Cup – will see more than 100,000 punters pack into Flemington Racecourse this Tuesday, while those at work around the country pause to tune in to The Race…

A galloping horse puts four tonnes of pressure on lower limb joints with each stride.
AAP/Hamish Blair29 octobre 2014

In elite racehorses, biology is pushed to the limit – about four tonnes is placed on the joint surfaces in a galloping horse’s lower limb with every stride, and these repeated loads have the potential…

How much of Black Caviar’s racing prowess will be passed to her foal?
AAP/Georgina Lomax28 octobre 2014

The win of Japanese stayer Admire Rakti in the Caulfield Cup, followed by Irish bred colt Adelaide‘s win in the Cox Plate last Saturday, has brought into question the stamina (staying) credentials of Australian…

Today horses are still whipped in public, but only in the name of sport.
AAP Image/Julian Smith28 octobre 2014

It’s not just the horses that wear blinkers during the Melbourne Cup, the so-called “race that stops a nation”, which takes place next Tuesday. Perhaps it’s the excitement, the champagne or the extraordinary…